The big question: How will data visualisation evolve this decade?

This article was taken from the May 2011 issue
of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print
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"Personal power-consumption and generation are a source of data that I expect to
flourish. Rudimentary MPG gauges have been replaced in hybrid and
electric cars by visualisations designed to stimulate efficient
driving habits. As home-energy production increases, monitoring
usage will become the focus of many household decisions."

"Journalism and art, that's what I
glimpse in the future. These are the pioneers that are using
visualisation to communicate complex issues and to portray human
nature, from the terrible to the sublime. In this decade,
visualisation won't bring just practical insight, but it will also
bring revelation."

"I think that information design -- the visualisation and
shaping of ideas and stories -- has amazing potential in education,
health, politics, entertainment, science, journalism. Think of
infographical school textbooks, beautiful blood-test reports, and
easy-to-understand blueprints of political situations."

Aaron KoblinDigital artist and data-arts lead at the Google
Creative Lab (googlelabs.com)

"I think -- hope -- that data visualisation will become less
noticeable as such. That is, everything will become visualisation
as interfaces progress into even more natural tools for interacting
and understanding. We'll be able to glean insights quicker and dig
deeper, in not only faster but also more meaningful ways."

Amanda CoxGraphics editor at The New York Times

"The questions will get fancier. 'Where did I run today?' leads
to 'Where should I run tomorrow?' Part of that means figuring out
how to convey uncertainty in a clear and compelling way. And
hopefully we'll get better at telling stories with data, so we'll
have better ways of communicating certain kinds of ideas."

"For all those times when we doubt the impact that our
individual actions (such as what we consume) have on our planet,
our communities, our families and on our bodies, we will finally
have evidence -- in the form of visualisations fed by live data
direct from the source. We will realise that our behaviour may in
fact matter."